Please note that any addenda or errata may not be included in translated editions of this standard.

This recommended practice is intended to supplement the heat treatment and testing requirements found in the API 6A equipment specification and not to replace them altogether.

Heat treatment is a critical process that must be appropriate and controlled in order to produce parts that comply with design requirements. The specified mechanical properties may not necessarily be required or achieved through the entire section thickness of the production part(s). These procedures are intended to provide the manufacturer and end user with a means of ensuring that the qualification test coupon (QTC) is more representative of the mechanical properties in a large cross section component than can be expected with a standard API equipment specification QTC.

Furthermore, these procedures are intended to provide to optimize the heat treatment and heat treatment response of large cross section components, thereby insuring that the component has the required mechanical properties at the depth below the surface established by the manufacture at all critical locations.

The recommend practice described herein suggests the requirements for batch-type bath quench and water spray quench-type heat treating practices.